Mortgages

The potential impacts of import tariffs cloud the outlook, though, and could lead mortgage rates to surge and fall throughout the coming year.

Meanwhile, home prices are set to grow 3 to 4% in 2025, a Fitch report predicts.

Fannie Mae set aside $752 million for credit losses in its apartment complex lending business in part because of fraud or suspected fraud, denting profits amid an industrywide scrutiny of borrowers. 

The consortium of businesses intends to work with state regulators to protect consumers as interest from secondary market investors also grows.

The latest refinance surge helped lift total application activity up for a second straight week, even as purchases fell, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The government-sponsored enterprises were not meant to remain in conservatorship permanently, but privatizing them once again must include a new set of rules that minimize market disruptions and maximize their focus on making homeownership affordable.

Most participants in a monthly Wolters Kluwer survey no longer think the next short-term rate reduction will be in March.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage continues to slip away from the 7% mark, Freddie Mac said, but experts still expect them to stay higher for longer.

Completed foreclosure auctions should be 8% lower this year, but if home value and unemployment expectations change, all bets are off, Auction.com said.

Some mortgage stakeholders say Trump's tariffs would make interest rates rise and housing costs shoot up.

Unlike previous FIGRE deals where overcollateralization provided credit support to the notes, FIGRE Trust 2025-HE1 has a class G composed of principal-only notes that provide the credit support.

The multifamily property securities market is expected to stay resilient, despite weaknesses in certain markets due to cooling rent growth, higher vacancy, or oversupply.

Stability in mortgage rates may be key to unlocking pent-up demand during the upcoming spring homebuying season, but with loans still expensive and prices continuing to rise, affordability remains a hurdle.

Mortgage experts were expecting the first FOMC meeting under President Trump would have more significance in the long run than short-term, with some wild cards.

On an annual basis, home prices grew by 4.2% in November, FHFA's index found.

The class A1 notes have the lowest cumulative advance rate, which combines the interest and mortgage insurance rates to show the monthly increase in the line of credit, at 95.5%.

Paying off debt and making home repairs are the top reasons homeowners choose a cash-out refinance, per the bureau's report.

As forbearance starts to rise due to the fires, servicers that have just gotten a respite from hurricanes recoveries will have to gear up again.

Higher mortgage rates will persist through 2026, affecting sales and refinancings. Those expectations led Fannie Mae to cut its volume outlook for the next two years.

Commoditization of mortgages, plus technology that eases the refinance process, and the regulatory environment, all contributed to the decision.